BEFORE THE 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON D.C.

__________________________________________

)

Application of )

)

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. )

) Docket No. OST-2014-

for an exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.C § 40109 )

to engage in foreign scheduled air transportation )

of persons, property and mail between the ) 

United States and Costa Rica )

__________________________________________ )

APPLICATION OF SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.

Communications with respect to this document should be sent to:

Ron Ricks Robert W. Kneisley

 Executive Vice President - Associate General Counsel

 Chief Legal & Regulatory Officer Leslie C. Abbott

Mark Shaw Senior Attorney

 Vice President General Counsel & SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.

 Corporate Secretary 919 18th Street, N.W., Suite 600

Washington, D.C. 20006

 bob.kneisley@wnco.com

(202) 263-6284

September 12, 2014

NOTICE: Expedited treatment of this application is requested. Southwest will poll 

the carriers on the attached service list and advise the Department of the results 

as soon as possible. 
1

BEFORE THE 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON D.C.

__________________________________________

)

Application of )

)

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. )

) Docket No. OST-2014-

for an exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.C § 40109 )

to engage in foreign scheduled air transportation )

of persons, property and mail between the ) 

United States and Costa Rica )

__________________________________________ )

APPLICATION OF SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.

Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and Subpart C of the Department’s Rules of

Practice, Southwest Airlines Co. (“Southwest” or “the Company”) hereby applies for an 

exemption from 49 U.S.C. § 41101 authorizing Southwest to engage in scheduled 

foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail between points in the United 

States and points in Costa Rica. 

Assuming receipt of all necessary approvals, Southwest proposes to commence 

operations between Baltimore-Washington International Airport (“BWI”) and San Jose, 

Costa Rica (“SJO”) on or about March 7, 2015. Southwest requests that the exemption 

authority specified in the application be granted as soon as possible for a period of at 

least two years.

In support of this application, Southwest states the following:
2

1. Southwest is a Texas corporation with its principal place of business at 2702 

Love Field Drive, Dallas, Texas, 75235. 

2. Southwest is a citizen of the United States as defined by Section 40102(a)(15) of 

Title 49 of the United States Code and Section 204.2(c) of the Department’s Economic 

Regulations. Southwest’s president and at least two-thirds of its board of directors and 

other managing officers are citizens of the United States. Southwest is under the actual 

control of citizens of the United States and more than 75 percent of its voting interest is 

owned or controlled by persons that are citizens of the United States. 

3. Southwest is fit, willing and able to conduct the services described in this 

application. Southwest commenced commercial service in 1971 as an intrastate airline, 

and has operated as a U.S. certificated air carrier since 1979. Southwest requests that 

the Department take official notice pursuant to Rule 24 of its Rules of Practice (14 CFR 

§ 302.24) of Southwest's Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for Interstate 

Air Transportation, originally issued by Order 79-6-187, and subsequently amended by 

Order 86-5-60 (May 15, 1986), Order 98-7-0 (July 8, 1998), and Order 2005-12-4 

(December 9, 2005). Southwest has consistently maintained its Certificate in good 

standing for the past 35 years.

4. Furthermore, Southwest already holds exemption authority from the Department 

authorizing service to countries in the Caribbean, including Aruba, the Bahamas, 

Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic,1as well as a number of U.S. – Mexico markets, 

such as BWI-CUN, AUS-CUN, AUS-SJD, DEN-CUN, MKE-CUN, MDW-CUN, SATMEX, SAT-CUN, SNA-MEX, and SNA-SJD2

. Pursuant to Rule 24 of the Department’s 

 

1

See Notice of Action Taken issued October 23, 2013 in Docket DOT-OST-2013-0181.

2

See Notice of Action Taken issued October 23, 2013 in Docket DOT-OST-2013-0180.
3

Rules of Practice, Southwest asks the Department to take official notice of all data on 

file necessary to establish Southwest’s fitness.

5. Southwest proposes to commence service between BWI and SJO on or about 

March 7, 2015. Southwest will provide this service using Boeing 737-700 aircraft 

configured for 143 seats and plans to offer daily service, depending on demand and 

other market conditions. Specifically, Southwest proposes the following flight schedule:

BWI – SJO 0840 - 1145

SJO – BWI 1240 - 1920

6. The requested exemption authority is fully consistent with the terms of the Air 

Transport Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the 

Government of Costa Rica signed in 1997 (“the Agreement”). This Open Skies 

agreement authorizes the U.S. to “designate as many airlines as it wishes to conduct 

international air transportation in accordance with this Agreement....” Article 3(1). 

Furthermore, the Agreement states that commercial air service is permitted by U.S. 

carriers “[f]rom points behind the United States via the United States and intermediate 

points to a point or points in Costa Rica and beyond.” Annex I(1)(A).

7. Southwest is the largest U.S. airline in terms of domestic passengers carried and 

provides more service at BWI than any other carrier by a wide margin with 204 daily 

flights to 60 cities. Southwest’s proposed new international service will provide the only 

scheduled nonstop flights to Costa Rica from BWI. In addition, the proposed service will

offer convenient one-stop connecting opportunities for passengers in small and medium 

sized cities without nonstop service to Costa Rica such as Albany, Buffalo, Hartford, 

 
4

Islip, Manchester, Providence and Rochester. In sum, Southwest’s proposed service 

will provide new convenient and reliable low-cost travel options for passengers and 

shippers in both the United States and Costa Rica, and clearly is in the public interest.

8. The environmental impacts of Southwest’s proposed services are de minimis, 

and will therefore not lead to a near-term annual increase in aircraft fuel consumption of 

10 million gallons or more. Accordingly, grant of this application will not constitute a 

“major regulatory action” within the meaning of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act 

of 1975 or Part 313 of the Department’s Economic Regulations.

9. Southwest will accept and comply with the terms and conditions that the 

Department routinely imposes on exemption authority for scheduled foreign air 

transportation. 

WHEREFORE, Southwest requests that the Department act expeditiously in 

granting the requested exemption authority to enable Southwest to engage in scheduled 

foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail between the United States and 

Costa Rica, as described above. 

Respectfully submitted,

______________________

Robert W. Kneisley

September 12, 2014
5

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on September 12, 2014, a copy of the foregoing was served 

via e-mail on the following persons:

msinick@ssd.com (Alaska Airlines)

howard.kass@aa.com (American Airlines)

robert.wirick@aa.com (American Airlines)

chris.walker@delta.com (Delta Air Lines)

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com (Delta Air Lines)

matwood@cozen.com (Frontier)

stephen.lachter@lachter.com (Frontier)

robert.land@jetblue.com (JetBlue Airways)

jhill@dowlohnes.com (JetBlue Airways)

perkmann@dowlohnes.com (JetBlue Airways)

robert.cohn@hoganlovells.com (Republic Airways)

patrick.rizzi@hoganlovells.com (Republic Airways)

dkirstein@yklaw.com (Spirit Airlines)

jyoung@yklaw.com (Spirit Airlines)

John.Fredericksen@suncountry.com (Sun Country Airlines)

dan.weiss@united.com (United Airlines)

pmurphy@lopmurphy.com (USA3000)

john.varley@virginamerica.com (Virgin America) 

susan.kurland@dot.gov

brian.hedberg@dot.gov

brett.kruger@dot.gov

reese.davidson@dot.gov

todd.homan@dot.gov

peter.irvine@dot.gov

cristinasa@state.gov

Baltimore/Washington International Airport

PWiedefeld@bwiairport.com

info@airlineinfo.com

__________________________

Leslie C. Abbott